Hundreds of Motorcyclists Protest Against Motorcycle Crime in London Ride

Several hundred motorcyclists rallied on Saturday for a #BikersUnited protest ride through London, with the aim of highlighting the 'outrageous escalation of bike theft and bike-jackings in our country'.

Gathering at Regents Park at 9.30am before setting off through central London, along Whitehall and past the Houses of Parliament, the riders carried slogans and posters to urge the government to take action.

The protest brought attention to the spate of acid attacks that were committed against six scooter riders in 90 minutes in a series of attacks in London in July, along with the increasing wave of motorcycle theft and motorcycle related crime.

Between July 2016 and June 2017 there were 14,943 thefts of "powered two-wheel vehicles", which accounted for 50% of all vehicles stolen in London. The amount stolen is a 30% increase on the previous year.

That accounts to 65 bikes stolen a day in the capital, according to protest organisers #bikersunited, and riders increasingly face ‘violence, knives, acid and even death from the thieves’.

Formed of a number of biking groups including MAG and We Ride London #BikersUnited says on its Facebook page:

"We represent the 1,000s of riders of motorcycles and scooters in Britain and are protesting about the outrageous escalation of bike theft and bike jackings in our country.’

A message posted by the group following the ride says:

"Hey everyone a HUGE thank you to all the riders that came out today. It was an amazing turn out will try get a number of attendance for you.

As you can imagine with so many bikes it can lead to occasional confusion no plan ever goes without the occasional hiccup so if you ended up touring London away from the group our apologies but hope you enjoyed your day anyway.

We had a very positive reaction from the public up on the bridges. Pedestrian, buses, cars, taxis and even cyclists were cheering us on so WELL DONE EVERYONE!!!"